


these things

by roseweasley394



Series: Moments Like These [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Dark Past, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family Drama, Near Death Experiences
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:20:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24656722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseweasley394/pseuds/roseweasley394
Summary: Rose comes home to find her husband dealing with uncharted territory.
Relationships: Scorpius Malfoy/Rose Weasley
Series: Moments Like These [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1780003
Comments: 1
Kudos: 24





	1. These Things That Break Us

* * *

Rose had this thing about emotions. Quite plainly, she was terrible with them. When she was upset, she yelled, like any other reasonable person. Scorpius told her that her inability to properly decipher and communicate her feelings caused her to become frustrated with herself, thus resulting in the aforementioned yelling. And she had come to realize that he was right, which is why he balanced her out so perfectly. He was good with emotions, and she was good at other things. Like cooking and chess and anything else really.

That’s why when Rose unlocked the door to their flat, she had hardly expected to walk into her bedroom to see her husband with his head in his hands, shoulders shaking silently.

She was frozen. She’d seen him cry before; of course, she had. They’d been together for a decade and friends for even longer. They were married for Merlin’s sake! But she hated seeing people cry, Scorpius specifically. It defied all rules of the world. Scorpius was happy and witty and sometimes so bold that she forgot he was a Malfoy. He was strong too, so unbelievably so. He had to be, growing up in the way he had. So whenever something got to him enough to make him cry, it had to be frighteningly serious

He looked up suddenly, having heard her slowly walking towards him. He quickly scrubbed a hand over his face and sat up a little straighter, smiling, or attempting to as it looked more like a wince.

“Hey,” she said gently, sitting next to him and taking his hand in hers.

“Hello,” he said, wincing as his voice cracked. “How was your day?” His eyes were red-rimmed and puffy and he looked utterly defeated. It broke her heart.

“Scorpius, what happened?” She asked as she brought her free hand up to his cheek.

At her touch, his eyes closed tightly and he took in a deep breath. “Nothing, I’m okay.”

“You know that you can tell me,” she said gently.

“What would you like for dinner? We can order in if you want,” he supplied, carrying on as though he hadn’t heard her.

“Scorpius,” Rose said bracingly.

“Rose,” he said with a sigh. “Really, I’m alright. I promise,” he said as he smiled and leaned in to kiss her. She pulled back and frowned slightly.

She might be shit with emotions, but she knew her husband. She knew when he needed space and she knew when he needed to be pushed. “I’m sorry, but we’re not doing anything until we talk about what’s going on with you.”

A heavy silence hung between them before he finally answered.

“It’s my dad,” he said quietly.

Her heart plummeted and she was relieved that he was looking forward and had missed the look of horror that crossed her face.

“Someone broke into the house. My mum found him when she got home from work,” he said no longer trying to disguise the tears running down his cheeks.

“Is he-” Rose couldn’t even finish her sentence. Dread filled her and she gripped Scorpius’s hand harder. He shook his head and a sense of relief washed over her.

“Not yet at least. Mum doesn't know much. She’s waiting at Mungo’s to hear more,” he said quietly.

“Well, then we need to go immediately. She can’t be there all by herself,” Rose said standing up abruptly; already mentally drafting the letter she would send her mum before they left. If anyone could get her answers, it would be her mother. She turned around to see that Scorpius still hadn’t moved.

“Scorpius?” She asked cautiously.

“I’m not going,” he responded shortly

She sighed, kneeling down in front of him so that they were eye level. “Scor, you mum needs us.”

When he didn’t respond she tried again. “We need to go, Scorpius. This isn’t negotiable. You deserve to know what’s going on just like your mother deserves your support.”

He ignored her, but she let the silence surround them. He would talk when he was ready, she knew that. But she couldn’t help but sense a certain urgency to the situation. There was a very real possibility that Draco was dead. The thought alone caused bile to rise in her throat. She was torn. She sighed and cursed Merlin for making her so horrible at this kind of thing. Suddenly though, he interrupted the silence and she was so thankful that she almost kissed him.

“Someone broke into my childhood home and tried to kill my father for what he did thirty years ago,” Scorpius said suddenly.

“Which is why we need to go and see if he’s alright.” She didn’t know why he wasn’t moving from his spot but she knew that he needed to before it was too late.

“Did you not hear me?” He cried frantically. “Someone broke into my home and tried to murder my father. And I know that he did horrible things, Rose. But he was probably just cooking for mother, or reading! Completely unsuspecting, minding his own bloody business and then,” he trailed off.

“Your dad changed and that’s what matters,” she said softly.

“I know that. You know that. But that doesn't mean the entire wizarding world does. My dad killed people, Rose. He forced someone to take their last breath and now he very well could have taken his,” he cried in anguish. Tears were making messy tracks down his cheeks and she could feel her own eyes starting to sting.

“You’re right, your dad has made a lot of mistakes. But he was a child, Scorpius. And he’s more than made up for the sins of his past. You accepted all of this a long time ago and you can’t let something like this make you doubt yourself. It’s not fair to you and it’s not fair to your dad,” she said fiercely.

He had finally stopped crying and he closed his eyes tightly. “You’re right,” he said with a deep breath. “Mum’s probably a mess. I’m a terrible son.”

“You are not a terrible son,” Rose said firmly.

“I am! She sent me the letter two hours ago and I’ve been sitting here crying like a giant prat,” he groaned.

“Everyone copes differently. If you needed time to process, then that’s alright.”

“Who would have thought it would be you giving me emotional advice,” he said with a grin.

She rolled her eyes and stood up. “Now if you get up we can floo to Mungos. I’ll write to my parents and Uncle Harry to see if we can’t get any more information on what bastard did this and how exactly we can get them thrown in Azkaban.”

She extended her hand to Scorpius with her best attempt at an assuring smile. He accepted and pulled her close.

“Have I ever told you that I love you” he murmured in her ear. A shiver ran down her spine and she grinned. Even though it had been years she’d never tire of hearing him say the words.

“Maybe a few times. Now let’s go or you really will be acting like a giant prat,” she said trying to pull away from him.

He rolled his eyes and kissed her briefly. They walked hand in hand to the fireplace. Scorpius didn’t know what the next few hours or even days would look like. But he did know that he wouldn’t be able to do it without her by his side.


	2. These Things That Heal Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and Scorpius receive life-altering news regarding one of the people they love the most.

* * *

Rose Weasley was no stranger to death. Though only a few of her loved ones had died in her lifetime, she had heard countless stories of the people who had left the world far too soon. Her parents had grown up and fallen in love watching the people that they cared about the most dying. Hell, most of her cousins were named after the dead.

So, when Rose found out that her father in law was in bad shape, she didn’t really know what to do. Her own grandfather, her mum’s dad, had passed away in her sixth year and it had been terrible. She felt as if she had been punched in the gut repeatedly and was left gasping for air for weeks. But that was her grandpa. She saw him when she could and of course looked up to him for raising her mother so brilliantly, but losing him didn’t break her. She kept going because she needed to. But the potential death of Draco Malfoy would break her husband, she knew that it would.

Scorpius relied heavily on his father. For the first decade of his life, Astoria and Draco had served as some of Scorpius’s only friends. Being a Malfoy didn’t provide much popularity, even as a child. Despite the horrible reputation of his father, Scorpius adored him. But he wasn’t stupid. His father had once been a terrible person. Even at 16, you’re responsible for the actions you make and Scorpius wouldn’t dream of making up excuses for what his father had been a part of.

Draco had given Scorpius an in-depth telling of the war from his perspective at a young age. He didn’t want his only son to grow up under the impression that what the Malfoy family had been a part of was okay because it wasn’t, and following the war, it didn’t take Draco long to accept that.

Scorpius admired his father for the choices he made after the war. The total reconstruction of himself was something Scorpius respected immensely. He commended his father for rebranding the Malfoy name all by himself. He loved the way his father loved his mother and the way he openly accepted Rose. He knew that his father had not always been a saint, but he firmly believed in change and thought Draco to be a clear definition of it.

Rose, knowing Scorpius better than anyone, had heard all of these thoughts before and agreed with them wholeheartedly. She believed Draco Malfoy to be a great man who truly deserved that best because your past mistakes should not be the things that define you.

As she held Scorpius’s hand in the waiting room of the intensive care unit of St. Mungo’s, Rose thought of these things. She thought of the past conversations that she and Scorpius had held concerning his father and she thought immediately of her own father and how much she loved him. She thought of how even he now respected Draco and could hold a civil conversation with him (which was honestly the most she could ask of him).

Rose numbly noticed that she could no longer feel her hand. She looked to Scorpius who was pale, even more so than usual and was staring straight ahead. There was no telling what was going on inside that head of his head but Rose wished desperately that she could help him. Instead, she rubbed her thumb across his knuckles and squeezed tightly.

She didn’t know how long they sat like that, but after what felt like years later, a man dressed in the standard emerald green healer robes approached them and Astoria timidly. She knew that they must have looked intimidating, they were Malfoys after all.

“Mrs. Malfoy, if I may, a moment alone,” he asked, refusing to meet the stare of Scorpius. She recognized the bloke from years of attending faculty Christmas parties, dinners, and other events with Scorpius and remembered unpleasantly how detestable he had been in their previous encounters.

“Whatever you have to say to my mum, you can say to all of us, Flint,” Scorpius said standing up, pulling a terrified Rose with him. He was shaking and Rose didn't know how the rest of the waiting room couldn’t hear her frantic heartbeat.

“I’m just following protocol,” he snapped at Scorpius. He turned slightly to face Astoria and plastered on a fake smile. “Mr. Malfoy is expected to make a full recovery.”

The rest of his sentence was drowned out by the collective breath of relief. “It’s going to be a lengthy process and you won’t be able to see him for a little while longer, but he’s going to be okay.”

Scorpius pulled Rose against him in a crushingly tight hug and she wrapped around him feeling him practically explode with relief against her. Draco Malfoy wasn’t going to die and that meant that Scorpius would be okay too.

Once the excitement of the healers’ words had died down, they settled back in their seats and waited. Rose smiled as she squeezed Scorpius’s hand. He had fallen asleep with his head resting on her shoulder and his eyelids fluttered slightly. He was going to be okay. They all were for that matter. Astoria sat across from Rose looking much more like herself than moments prior.

About an hour ago her Uncle Harry had arrived in a flurry of scarlet robes and quiet authority to sit Astoria down and explain all the aurors had learned so far about the break-in. Rose sent a silent thanks to Harry for coming so quickly. She knew that he didn’t often deal with fieldwork anymore, much less with families of victims, but he had made a special exception and she knew that Astoria appreciated it as much as she did. Not long after he left, she woke Scorpius to tell him that it was time to see his father.

“I’ll wait out here,” she said kissing him briefly and pushing him towards his father’s room.

“You’re mad if you think I’m going in there by myself,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her along with him.

“You’re mum will be there too. Your family needs you, Scorpius,” she said in an attempt to break away.

“Rose,” he said, stopping and taking both of her hands in his. “You are my family. Please, I don’t know if I can see him by myself,” he said, his voice wobbling.

“Alright,” she said with a smile, doing her best to ignore the stinging in her eyes. “Let’s go then.” She grabbed his hand and they followed a healer in training to Draco’s room. She didn’t know what they were about to walk into, but they were going to be okay.


End file.
